Long term antibiotic therapy may be an effective treatment for children co-morbid with Lyme disease and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Patients diagnosed with Lyme disease share many of the same physical manifestations as those diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In this study four male children (ages 26–55months) who have an ASD diagnosis and one male child (age 18months) who displayed behaviors consistent with an ASD, were assessed using the SCERTS Assessment Process Observation (SAP-O) form. The SAP-O meets state and federal requirements for providing a comprehensive, ongoing assessment of a child with an ASD [33]. The SAP-O form measures children’s abilities using observational, authentic assessment procedures in the domains of joint attention, symbol use, mutual regulation, and self regulation via observations of specific behaviors in familiar settings [33]. The five children tested positive for Lyme disease and their SAP-O score was evaluated before and after 6months of antibiotic therapy. Each child was prescribed 200mg of amoxicillin three times per day and three of the five children were prescribed an additional 50mg of Azithromycin once per day. All of the children’s scores on the SAP-O assessment improved after 6months of antibiotic therapy. The assessors also reported anecdotal data of improved speech, eye contact, sleep behaviors, and a reduction of repetitive behaviors.